


Living For a Dream

by 15Acesplz



Series: Courfius Week 2018 [4]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1980s, Alternate Universe - High School, Friends to Lovers, M/M, School Dances, compulsory heterosexuality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 17:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14675940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/15Acesplz/pseuds/15Acesplz
Summary: “I know, I know. You were just busy being captivated by real-life angel Cosette Fauchelevent.”“Courf!” Marius shushed him hurriedly. “What if someone hears?”“They’ll think, ‘Pontmercy’s in love with Fauchelevent? Oh, him and every other boy in school.’”Marius shushed him again.





	Living For a Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Do not be deceived by the summary - this is a Courfius fic

Marius felt someone ram into his side. He tensed, ready to back away, though there was really nowhere to back away to in the crowded hallway. When he looked, however, it was just Courfeyrac at his elbow.

“Marius,” Courfeyrac said urgently. “We have to get together and study tonight or I’m gonna die.” He looped his arm around Marius’s and kept talking. “Well, I won’t die, but I’ll fail Italian. You’re free, right?”

Marius nodded. “Yeah.”

Courfeyrac breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank god. I couldn’t do it without your genius linguist superpowers.”

“Courf,” Marius said, laughing, “I don’t have superpowers, honest.” Courfeyrac was always so dramatic. Marius didn’t really mind. It was one of his charms.

“Natural brain powers, then,” Courfeyrac responded. “My house tonight? I’ll order pizza.”  
“Sounds –” Marius spotted a familiar face, and suddenly felt as though he’d swallowed his tongue. He forgot to finish his sentence.

“Dude, what – Oh.” Courfeyrac had seen her, too: Cosette Fauchelevent.

Cosette Fauchelevent was definitely the prettiest, nicest girl in the whole school. She had long brown hair and beautiful blue eyes and she smiled at everyone, even kids she wasn’t friends with. Two months ago she’d happened to smile at Marius, and he’d had a crush on her ever since. Today she had her hair up in a ponytail and her shirt was salmon pink. As Marius watched she walked past them, laughing at something her friend had said. She had such a nice laugh.

Courfeyrac’s voice cut into his reverie. “Hey, moony-eyes!”

“What? Sorry. I just, uh.”

“I know, I know.” He used the same overdramatic tone as before. “You were just busy being captivated by real-life angel Cosette Fauchelevent.”

“Courf!” Marius shushed him hurriedly. “What if someone hears?”

“They’ll think, ‘Pontmercy’s in love with Fauchelevent? Oh, him and every other boy in school.’”

Marius shushed him again. He didn’t care what Courfeyrac thought; he wasn’t taking any chances.

“Seriously, though, you’ve got to do something besides pine after her. The spring dance is next week. Why don’t you ask her to go with you?”

Marius’s eyes widened. “I can’t do that!”

“Why not? You’re cute.”

He felt a flush rising in his face. “Shut up, no I’m not,” he mumbled.

Courfeyrac prodded his pink cheek, laughing. “You are adorable. And you should ask Fauchelevent to the dance.”  
Marius didn’t say anything else until they reached the doorway to his next class. “See you tonight, Courf.”

“See you!”

\- - - - -

Marius didn’t think sitting on Courfeyrac’s bed watching _La Dolce Vita_ quite counted as studying Italian, but Courfeyrac had insisted it was what he needed to get his brain going. Marius wasn’t really paying attention, anyway. He had too much on his mind. Sure, Courfeyrac thought he was cute, but that didn’t mean Cosette did. Besides, compliments from Courfeyrac were like compliments from his great-aunt. He was biased in Marius’s favor. Marius didn’t even know if he could work up the nerve to talk to Cosette. She was so cool and nice, and he was so socially inept. What if he walked up to her and lost the ability to speak? What if he stammered? What if she laughed at him? What if…

“What if she says no?” he said quietly.

Courfeyrac took one look at him and sighed impatiently. He leaned over and grabbed Marius’s face, squishing his cheeks and knocking his glasses slightly askew. “Marius, you perfect, awkward bumblebee. You’re a catch. You’re tall and smart and cute and you would be the sweetest, most considerate date a girl could ever want. Cosette is lucky to have captured your affections. Just ask her.”

Marius squirmed out of Courfeyrac’s grip. “But what if –”

“No buts!” Courfeyrac tackled him and started to tickle his ribs. Marius fell back, shrieking.

“Courf –” he choked out through his laughter. “Stop, please –”

“Nope, no mercy!” Courfeyrac climbed on top of him. “I won’t stop until you say you’ll ask her!”

“Okay, okay!” Marius gasped. “I’ll asked Cosette to the dance!”

Courfeyrac stopped wriggling his fingers and grinned. “Good.” He got off of Marius and resumed his spot next to him, propping his head up with his elbow and looking at him intently. “But seriously,” and he did suddenly sound serious, “if she says no I’ll gladly go with you. Or we could skip the dance and just hang out here. Make ice cream sundaes or something. Whatever you want. I’ll be there.”

His brown eyes were warm and his gaze tender. Marius smiled. “Thanks, Courf.”

“Anytime, buddy.”

On the ignored television screen, the protagonist and his love interest held each other close and professed their love.

\- - - - -

“I can do this,” Marius muttered to himself. “I can do this.

Everything was set. Any minute Cosette would walk through the doors to the cafeteria and Marius would approach her and ask her out before he could think twice about it. He was wearing an indigo sweater that Courfeyrac always said looked good on him. His shoes matched. There had been ink on his face earlier but he’d washed it off in the bathroom. What about his hair? He ran a hand through it nervously, probably mussing it up even more. He didn’t have time to worry about that, though, because there was Cosette, radiant as ever. His stomach did a backflip. He refrained from touching his hair again, swallowed, and walked up to her. “Cosette?”

She turned and looked at him, and so did the two friends she was with. He hadn’t anticipated that. Could he really do this with other people watching?

 _Do it!_ said a voice in his head that sounded remarkably like Courfeyrac. _It’s now or never._

“I’m Marius Pontmercy,” he started.

“I know,” she said, smiling. Pretty, popular Cosette knew his name? His heart fluttered.

“Right. Cool. Uh… I was just wondering…” His voice cracked a little, and he swallowed again. Why had his throat gone dry at a such a crucial moment? “Do you want to go to the dance? With me, I mean.”

“Sure!” she said cheerily. “My dress is light blue. I’ll see you there?”

He couldn’t believe it. All he managed was a nod.

“Okay.” And then she was gone, walking towards the lunch line while her friends began to talk in earnest.

Marius numbly walked back to where Courfeyrac was sitting waiting for him. He sat down and stared at his lunch.

“She said yes,” he said, still in awe.

Courfeyrac clapped him on the back. “Awesome! I knew you could do it!”

Marius nodded and attempted a smile. He had thought he would feel more excited than he did. Mostly he just felt queasy. Admiring Cosette from afar had been easy; at the thought of going to the dance with her – doing date things at the dance with her – he felt more panicked than ever.

He didn’t say any of that, though. “I can’t wait.”

Courfeyrac saw through his wobbly smile anyway. “Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”

\- - - - -

The phone rang, and Marius poked himself in the eye. He swore under his breath and ran to get the phone, his eye streaming. “Hello?”

“Marius? It’s me.”

“Hey, Courf.” He switched the phone to his other hand and rubbed his irritated eye.

“Listen, I know you’re really nervous about tonight and I just wanted to make sure you didn’t chicken out. Are you ready?”

“Almost.” Marius had felt oddly calm thus far. As long as he didn’t think about Cosette, he was fine.

“Need a pep talk?”

He grinned and settled his back against the wall. “If you insist.” He left Courfeyrac say nice things and hype him up for a few minutes, then he checked his watch and remembered he was still one contact lens short. “Courf, I’ve got to go.”

“Okay, see you there. And Marius?”

Marius paused in hanging up and put the phone back against his ear.

“I’m glad this is working out for you. I’m glad you’re happy.”

He drew in a sharp breath. Was he happy? He felt a lot of things right now, but he didn’t think happiness was one of them. “See you there, Courf,” he said in a small voice.

He hung up and went back to the bathroom. The contact he’d dropped was on the floor. Marius washed it off and regarded it. “Here we go,” he said to himself. He brought the contact up to his eye, and succeeded in poking himself again.

\- - - - -

“You look beautiful,” Marius said.

Cosette really did look lovely – with her fancy dress and her hair in some complicated up-do and a string of pearls around her neck. “Thank you.” She gave him a dazzling smile and held out her hand for him to take.

His heart hammered in his chest. Was he really about to hold Cosette Fauchelevent’s hand? He steadied himself and took it, expecting something marvelous to happen. There would be fireworks, or the stars would spin, or the world would stop turning. Nothing happened, though – he took her hand and life continued on as normal. He was still the same person, and he still felt as though his body was full of butterflies.

They walked into the gymnasium. The music was loud and upbeat, though almost no one was dancing yet. Marius craned his neck, scanning the clusters of attendees for Courfeyrac, but suddenly Cosette was dragging him towards someone she knew. He stood there politely while the two girls chatted. He wished Cosette would let go of his hand – it was starting to sweat.

Next Cosette pulled him over to the snack table. He took his chance to look around again, but he didn’t see Courfeyrac.

“This is fun, right?” Cosette said over the music, close to his ear.

He wasn’t really having fun yet. “Yeah,” he said anyway. “Let’s sit down somewhere.”

They found two unoccupied seats against the back wall, and Cosette dropped Marius’s hand to drink her fruit punch. _Finally_.

Marius was alarmed to find he had no idea what to say to this girl. He had never really considered the idea of actually talking to her for an extended period of time. He wracked his brains to think of something. What did he and Courfeyrac talk about? Anything and everything. And even when they didn’t, not talking felt fine. Comfortable. That was nice, but it didn’t help Marius in his present situation. At last he said, “So. Uh, how’s school?”

It felt like the lamest thing he could have possibly come up with.

“Good,” Cosette said. “How about for you?”

“Good,” he responded. And now they still had nothing to talk about. Drat.

Cosette finished her punch and set the plastic cup on the floor. “Do you want to dance?”

The dance floor was beginning to fill up. Marius balked. “Um – I don’t really – I’m not – I can’t dance. At all,” he said hastily.

Cosette looked a little disappointed. “Alright.”

Marius was surprised, somehow. If it had been Courfeyrac, he would have cajoled and encouraged Marius until he finally relented and got up to dance. Courfeyrac would dance like he was having the time of his life, looking at Marius in that beguiling way of his, and Marius would forget to be embarrassed by his lack of coordination and start to have fun.

Where was Courfeyrac, anyway? He still hadn’t spotted him.

They sat through four songs without speaking before Cosette turned to him and said, “Do you mind if I go dance a little with my friends?”

He shook his head. “No, go ahead.”

She got up, and he slumped in his seat, staring at the floor. What was wrong with him? He was on a date with the prettiest girl he knew and he wasn’t even excited about it – just incredibly nervous and a little bored. He was supposed to be having a good time. He was supposed to want to dance with her. But everything felt strangely hollow.

Cosette came back before long, out of breath and rosy-cheeked. She sat down and leaned her head on Marius’s shoulder. He stiffened, looking over. She looked up at him and laughed softly.

“Is there something on my face?” he said automatically.

She smiled. “No.” The next thing he knew she was kissing him.

It was, objectively, fine. A better phrase might have been ‘completely unremarkable’. She broke away, still smiling. He smiled weakly back while his stomach squirmed. Why wasn’t he enjoying this? He could feel remnants of her lipstick on his mouth. It was sticky. He resisted the urge to rub it off.

The underlying note of panic that had plagued him all evening reached crescendo. “I’m sorry,” he heard himself say, “this was a bad idea. It’s not you, you’re perfect. There’s just something not right. I – I don’t know.” He looked at his shoes, his throat tightening. “You should go be with your friends. I’m sorry,” he mumbled again.

“Marius, are you okay?” She sounded concerned. It was worse than if she had stormed off. She was just so nice.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said hurriedly. “This is my fault. You should be here with someone who wants to dance with you, who – who wants to talk and stuff. I thought that was me but it just isn’t.” He blinked hard. “I’m – I’m really sorry.”

She put a hand on his arm, sighing. “Marius, it’s fine. It’s not the end of the world.” She kissed his cheek and stood up. “I’ll see you around, okay?”

He nodded, and didn’t look as she walked away.

\- - - - -

Courfeyrac. Marius needed to find Courfeyrac. If anyone could help him handle this, if anyone could explain it to him in a way that made him feel better, it was Courfeyrac. Marius checked the bathroom and the hallway. He looked over by the snacks and walked past the line of chairs, and even checked by the back doors where people were surreptitiously smoking. He looked endlessly over the throng of people in the gymnasium, but either Courfeyrac wasn’t there or he kept missing him.

He sighed and put his head in his hands. With Courfeyrac nothing was difficult. He could breathe, he felt at ease. He laughed and had fun and always knew what to say. Courfeyrac always made him feel like he was the most important person in the room – though he was sure that had to be Courfeyrac himself, with his jokes and sense of flair and amicable spirit. Being with Courfeyrac was like basking in the sun: warm and comfortable and, to an extent, healing. He didn’t know what his life would be without him.

His head snapped up. He realized what had been missing all night.

And miraculously, at that moment he saw him. A flash of yellow on the other side of the room – who else would be wearing a bright yellow suit? He inelegantly shoved past dancing students, watching Courfeyrac’s back disappear through the doors. He quickened his pace, and then made it a run once he reached the hallway. He burst out into the cool night air, and there was Courfeyrac, halfway down the parking lot.

“Courf!” he shouted, and ran down the steps to meet him. “Where are you going?” he said between heavy breaths.

“Oh.” Courfeyrac smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I was think of going home. I’m not having a great time.” He turned to go.

Marius caught him by the shoulder. “Wait! Stay,” he said. “Please. Just stay here with me.”

Courfeyrac looked confused. “But – I don’t want to interfere. You and Cosette –”

“Forget Cosette!” he said impatiently. “I can do without Cosette. Not without you. I don’t –” He gave his head a shake. “I’ve been so stupid, I didn’t even realize – It should have been you,” he said. “I wish I’d asked you, and met you outside and told you how handsome you look. I wish we could have held hands and danced and – And everything. I want everything. With you.”

He let out a breath. The music from the dance pulsed behind him, muffled by the entrance doors. Courfeyrac said nothing. He was staring at Marius with an odd expression of his face, and suddenly Marius was worried. What if he’d just ruined the best friendship of his life?  
Before he could apologize, say ‘forget it’, Courfeyrac took a step towards him, dragged him down by the lapels of his jacket, and kissed him.

The world stopped turning.

“I thought you knew,” Courfeyrac whispered against his mouth when they finally parted. He laughed, sounding giddy. “Marius, I thought you knew.” He sat back on his heels – he’d been on tiptoe. Had he always been so much shorter than Marius? “I love you – I have loved you, for so long. Longer than I know. It’s always been you. For me it always has been. Marius, do you really –”

The music inside changed. The beat was slow; a piano played the intro.

“Dance with me?” Marius asked.

Courfeyrac’s face split into a smile. He took Marius’s hand and waist as the singer began.

“It’s not that I didn’t feel it until now,” Marius murmured as they revolved on the spot. “I just didn’t know what it meant. I thought it was normal friend stuff.”  
“I know,” Courfeyrac said, and it was that easy for any residual worry to melt away. “it doesn’t matter. I would have waited forever for you.”

Marius felt a rush of that special, glowing feeling Courfeyrac gave him, stronger than it’d ever been before. He dipped his head down and kissed him again. They stayed closed like that, swaying with their foreheads together, until the song reached its end.

_The search is over, love was right before my eyes._

**Author's Note:**

> I have absolutely no excuses or explanations for how ridiculously cheesy this is. I just thought, hm, let’s make our own John Hughes film. Fill it with tropes and cheese and call that good. Anyway, I’m very attached to this AU and I got more emotional than I expected to writing the comp het. I think I had some unresolved feelings about that from my own experiences. The song they dance to at the end is The Search is Over by The Survivors; that’s also where the title came from.


End file.
